Light absorption plays a central role in optical detectors and photovoltaics. Inspired by nature, two different routes have been investigated to achieve perfect absorption. A first one consists in relying on diffusion in disordered lossy surfaces (e.g., black silver and carbon). Engineered materials have been synthesized following this solution to produce extraordinary broadband light absorption (e.g., dense arrays of carbon nanotubes). A second approach consists in using ordered periodic structures, as found in some nocturnal insects, where they produce the moth eye effect. This alternative has been pioneered by experimental and theoretical work showing total light absorption (TLA) in the visible using metallic gratings. In this context, the Salisbury screen (U.S. Pat. No. 2,599,944 B1), consisting of a thin absorbing layer placed above a reflecting surface, has been known to produce TLA, and it can be integrated in thin structures using magnetic-mirror metamaterials. Similar phenomena have been reported at infrared (IR) and microwave (Y. P. Bliokh, J. Felsteiner, and Y. Z. Slutsker, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 165003, 2005; N. I. Landy, S. Sajuyigbe, J. J. Mock, D. R. Smith, and W. J. Padilla, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 207402, 2008) frequencies, including omnidirectional TLA, which has been realized by using periodic surfaces supporting localized plasmon excitations. However, due to the specific material properties, none of these technologies have enabled conversion from absorbed light into electrical signals, or have been very inefficient as such. Additionally, these devices did not exhibit in-situ tunability of the absorption spectrum, neither emission frequencies in the infrared or THz range.